Abstract

A novel photo-curable multifunctional luminescent system with high durability is presented in this work for application in thin-film luminescent solar concentrators (LSC), based on a fluorinated polymer matrix covalently linked to a newly synthesized functional perylene-derived luminescent organic dye. The UV-curable fluoropolymeric matrix consists of a blend of three different UV-curable fluorinated polymers. Such a matrix was co-reacted upon UV-light exposure with a suitably functionalized perylene-based luminescent organic dye bearing lateral carbon double bonds, to yield the solid crosslinked LSC thin film. A thorough characterization of the new luminescent system evidenced its excellent chemical, physical and optical properties, while its functional performance was evaluated in terms of LSC device response at varying dye concentrations. To assess the long-term stability of the new UV-curable LSC system, a long term (>800 h) light-exposure durability study was conducted on the LSC devices which fully retained their initial performance. In contrast, reference host/guest luminescent systems based on the same UV-curable fluoropolymeric matrix doped with a conventional fluorescent dye exhibited an overall ∼10% efficiency loss in the same time frame. In addition, such a novel UV-curable fluoropolymeric LSC system presented a highly hydrophobic character and moderate oleophobicity, which impart easy cleanability to the LSC coating, as a result of the highly perfluorinated nature of the polymeric matrix. This study represents the first demonstration of highly stable multifunctional UV-curable thin-film LSC systems and gives a clear demonstration of a straightforward room-temperature preparation process that may offer an easily scalable approach to highly stable and multifunctional LSC devices.

Authors contributing to RSC publications (journal articles, books or book chapters)
do not need to formally request permission to reproduce material contained in this
article provided that the correct acknowledgement is given with the reproduced material.

Reproduced material should be attributed as follows:

For reproduction of material from NJC:
Reproduced from Ref. XX with permission from the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique (CNRS) and The Royal Society of Chemistry.

For reproduction of material from PCCP:
Reproduced from Ref. XX with permission from the PCCP Owner Societies.

For reproduction of material from PPS:
Reproduced from Ref. XX with permission from the European Society for Photobiology,
the European Photochemistry Association, and The Royal Society of Chemistry.

For reproduction of material from all other RSC journals and books:
Reproduced from Ref. XX with permission from The Royal Society of Chemistry.

If the material has been adapted instead of reproduced from the original RSC publication
"Reproduced from" can be substituted with "Adapted from".

In all cases the Ref. XX is the XXth reference in the list of references.

If you are the author of this article you do not need to formally request permission
to reproduce figures, diagrams etc. contained in this article in third party publications
or in a thesis or dissertation provided that the correct acknowledgement is given
with the reproduced material.

Reproduced material should be attributed as follows:

For reproduction of material from NJC:
[Original citation] - Reproduced by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) on behalf of the
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the RSC

For reproduction of material from PCCP:
[Original citation] - Reproduced by permission of the PCCP Owner Societies

For reproduction of material from PPS:
[Original citation] - Reproduced by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) on behalf of the
European Society for Photobiology, the European Photochemistry Association, and
RSC

For reproduction of material from all other RSC journals:
[Original citation] - Reproduced by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry

If you are the author of this article you still need to obtain permission to reproduce
the whole article in a third party publication with the exception of reproduction
of the whole article in a thesis or dissertation.

Information about reproducing material from RSC articles with different licences
is available on our Permission Requests page.